Reservoir spill as storages up

Up to 600 million litres of drinking water spilled daily from the region’s main Otways reservoir after it reached capacity at the end of last month.
West Barwon Reservoir began spilling two weeks ago for the third consecutive year.
Located at Forrest in the Otway Ranges, the reservoir supplies the majority of Barwon Water’s Geelong customers.
Barwon Water revealed the reservoir reached its capacity of 21,504 million litres on 31 July.
The following evening the reservoir began sending around 600 million litres of water over its spillway.
The flow later decreased to around 100 million litres a day.
Barwon Water measured the reservoir at 99.7 per cent of capacity this week.
Water released from West Barwon flows down a channel to the Wurdee Boluc Reservoir where it is treated and distributed to customers.
Above-average rain in July contributed to the spill. West Barwon recorded 159mm of rain for the month, compared to the July monthly average of 130.5mm.
The region’s storages were at 82.9 per cent of capacity on Tuesday after recording 22mm of rain over the previous seven days.
More rain in subsequent days promises to send the level higher.
The region’s storages were this week almost nine per cent higher than the same time last year. Last year’s storages reached a maximum capacity of 92.7 per cent late in November.
The region now has enough water in storage to supply consumers for more than three years without further rain, based on 2012/2013’s average weekly consumption of 590Ml.